By CHRIS MCGANN, P-I CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, March 1, 2007

OLYMPIA -- Washington state made another symbolic step toward legalized gay marriage Thursday when the Senate passed a domestic partnership bill that would provide new rights for same-sex couples.

Though proponents insist the measure does not change the legal landscape, they have called it the building block in the long-term struggle for full equality for gays and lesbians.

The bill now heads to the House, where it is expected to pass. Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the measure if it gets to her desk.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor, said domestic partnerships could pave the way for gay marriage -- if only indirectly.

"Legally it will not, and we know that," Murray said. "I wish it would, and morally I believe it will, but legally it will not. I hope, though, that through this debate you will realize when you hear the stories of our families, that there is really only one answer for all families and that is marriage."

Opponents voted against the bill primarily because they view it as a threat to the institution of marriage.

"We have watched this incremental movement as it has slowly eroded the sanctity of marriage," said Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington. "This bill is not about equal rights, it's about changing society in ways that will ultimately harm it. ... Our acquiescence to the gay rights as it is depicted, homosexual rights, liberation is political appeasement. We are giving away the building blocks of lasting society one bill at a time."

The measure passed on a 28-19 vote, with two lawmakers excused.

Senate Bill 5336 would create a domestic partnership registry with the state and would provide enhanced rights for same-sex couples, including hospital visitation, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, and inheritance rights when there is no will.

Couples would have to share a home, not be married or in a domestic relationship with someone else, and be at least 18.

Similar to California law, unmarried heterosexual couples would also be eligible for domestic partnerships if one partner were at least 62.

The Senate rejected a Republican amendment that would have required a public vote before the legislation took effect.

Josh Friedes, advocacy director for Equal Rights Washington, which promotes rights for gay and transgender people, said the group considers the bill an "emergency family protection act."

"Our goal is full marriage equality," he said. "Only marriage equality will meet the legal needs of gay and lesbian families and only marriage equality will represent social equality."

Friedes said the bill provides "limited but important protections while we continue the struggle for full marriage equality. The domestic partnership bill is going to provide peace of mind for gay and lesbian families and emergency protections for families who are in crisis."

"We have had so much trouble generating the conversation about our families," he said. "Gay and lesbian families have been taboo to date."

Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, has been a leader in the national movement to legalize gay marriage.

"We're starting with the domestic partner bill, and we will not stop until all of our families are treated equally," Pedersen said. "But we recognize at the same time that we have a great deal of work to do to get the state and the Legislature ready for that promise of full equality."

The emotional floor debate in the Senate generated tears and several outbursts of exasperation.

"I don't believe this bill is about bombs exploding," he said. "I don't believe this bill is about having sex with dead people or having sex with animals.

"What this bill is about is whether or not two people who love each other and have a committed relationship with each other can merely file a form with the secretary of state and have the state recognize that union and give them just some of the rights that married people have," he said.

"My good friend (Sen. James Hargrove, D-Hoquiam), who just said that this bill discriminates against married people -- no it doesn't, because married people already have all these rights."

Murray previously spearheaded a gay civil-rights bill that became law last year after nearly 30 years of failure in the Legislature.

That measure added "sexual orientation" to a state law that bans discrimination in housing, employment, insurance and credit on the basis of such characteristics as race and religion.

Another measure introduced by Murray this year that would have allowed same-sex marriage died in committee Wednesday.